Chapter 3 (Part 2) - The Test Subject

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Miller and I followed behind the doctor as we walked towards the lift. Surprisingly, we went down to an even lower floor for whatever work that was lying ahead of us.

Like the previous floor where Ellis' office had been, the same ominous feeling was carried throughout the hallways of this floor. The doors were also labeled with numbers, but this time, there were no name plaques for its inhabitants.

We stopped at the door labeled "06". Miller stepped to one side of the door frame and stood with his hands behind his back, looking like some sort of guard. Ellis rapped twice on the door and entered the room. "Good morning, Six, how are we feeling today?" she asked pleasantly.

I was shocked to hear a pubescent boy's voice reply with, "Good." Out of curiosity, I peered my head inside the room to see a young boy, who looked about thirteen, sitting at the edge of a bed. He wore a hospital gown, and his kinky hair was buzzed short.

"Hey," a sharped but hushed voice interjected. I whipped my head around to see Miller glaring at me. "Stand straight and don't pry."

Still wrapped in confusion, I was unable to be sensible enough to heed his advice. "What department is this? Why are there children?"

His jaw clenched in frustration as he shot a look inside the room to see if they had heard me. "Just, shut up," he hissed finally.

The urgency in his voice and his rigid demeanor brought me back to my wits to stay out of trouble, so I kept my whirling thoughts to myself.

Am I in the wrong department? I should be working with animals, not sick children. Maybe I'm with the wrong doctor. Is there another new intern besides me?

Ellis' voice interrupted my thoughts. "Come along now, today's practice will be new to you. A fun challenge," she said to the boy. Keeping her hand on his shoulder, she walked the boy out of his room. Miller and I kept at their heels.

We arrived at the room labeled "28". Inside it was a table, two chairs, and some shelves in the corner.

The doctor sat the boy down on one of the chairs, then turned to Miller, "Please get me the 'egg' as usual, and teach her how to use it." She pulled a ring of keys out of her pocket and handed them to him.

Miller nodded in understanding. I didn't know what the "egg" Ellis was referring to, but I suspected it to be some sort of machine or tool.

As we left the room, I could hear her making conversation with the child, "So what did you have breakfast today--" The door closed shut.

We hastened down the hall and stopped at the double doors labeled "Supply Room". The keys jingled as Miller searched and found the copper colored key and unlocked the doors. The Supply Room was much more spacious than Room 28, and it was filled with a great variety of machines, some I had never seen before.

While I was ogling at all the foreign devices in the room, Miller had been working away at some wires in the corner with a machine. I walked over and asked, "Is this the 'egg'?"

He turned to look at me like I was being bothersome. "Yes. The EEG. She only calls it an egg when the subjects are around."

"Because it's scary for kids?"

Miller let out an exhale of confirmation. I could tell he didn't want to be teaching me or have me around in general, but if I didn't say it now, it could snowball into even more trouble.

"Hey, um, is there a part of the lab that works with animals? Cuz I think I'm supposed to be there." I shifted my feet nervously. "I wasn't told anything about what experiments were specifically conducted here, but I'm here for an internship that's supposed to be helping me with animal research, and not really, uh, kids."

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